Only Human
by Ahsilaa
Summary: "It's hard to believe that the fear of offending can be stronger than the fear of pain." The terrifying truth was that people were so trained to be polite, so scared of looking wrong that they would risk everything not to offend someone. And at that point I was confident that I wouldn't be that type of person. And I shouldn't have been. Because that day I ran. Rewrite of BMtC
1. ONE

**A.N:**

 **Guys! It's finally here. I'm so glad that you guys were excited about the new story - I don't know if any of the original readers will read it but if you do, give me a shout out.**

 **Let me just tell you now: it is VERY different. For one, the Cullens enter a lot sooner because I re-read lore on Twilight vampires and found out a couple of things. Bella isn't as Mary Jane as she was before and the biggest change...it's an M. That means certain things are gonna be explained rather than glossed over. Also, Renee is in the story cause how could a girl go through something like rape and her mum not come rushing to help her?**

 **Alright, that's it. I really hope you enjoy. As of now I'll be updating every week hopefully. I have four chapters written but because I want to make it good it'll be quality stuff. This means it will take longer to write and research.**

 **With that, I proudly present Only Human.**

* * *

ONE

Bella was in the hospital again. She recognised the almost overpowering antiseptic smell that she'd had began to associate with hospitals since she was old enough to walk. She'd always been clumsy as a girl; the nurses at Phoenix had joked that Bella would always have permanent bed there so as to get her treated to quickly. They'd even written her name on one of them.

What struck her as somewhat morbidly funny, was that all hospitals seemed to smell the same, no matter where anyone lived. Maybe it was to cover up the smell of death.

She also wondered, vaguely as the rhythm of the EKG machine woken her up, how many people were sent into Forks Hospital for some sort of small illness, only to find that what they had was the progression of something much worse than say, a headache.

Hospitals had never brought out the best side to her, but her mother had learnt to embrace it more or less as the trips to the hospital became more and more frequent over the years. Renee thought her daughter's melancholy mood had to do with her unconsciously channelling the dying's auras. Bella had promptly laughed at her mother when she'd told her her theory, and then she'd given her slightly eccentric mother a hug.

It was possible, Bella thought. Just not very likely. And as more concrete thoughts began to fill her head, she wondered what had happened this time to get her to the hospital, and maybe she should warn the nurses that she would be there often.

She didn't have to wait long for someone to answer any of her questions as, only a minute later, there was a bright light shining into my pupil. Bella shut her eyes automatically to shield them from the painful glare. She gave her own in return once the light moved away.

"She's stable. No sign of concussion."

"Thank god." The gruff tones of Charlie were heard over the beeping. Bella looked towards where she'd heard the voice coming from and saw a pale, baggy eyed Charlie talking quietly to the nurse who she assumed was the one who gave her the all clear.

Her focus shifted to outside the door and she noticed the back of a man's head. He was blonde - most importantly from what she could tell, and was wearing a Forks Police Department wondered what he was doing outside her room.

"Bella." Her attention was drawn back to Charlie. He looked so tired and upset.

"Dad." Her voice was hoarser than expected so she asked for some water. He nodded stiffly and took a jug from the bedside table. There were a few cups littered around the table and he took one of the unused ones.

Some were used and some weren't. Charlie was a man of habit and practicality. He wouldn't just use new paper cups. It made Bella wonder how long they had been there because the hospital wouldn't give them a dirty room.

A woman in a white coat came through the door. She was tired and wasn't looking forward to what she had to tell this next family. "Afternoon Ms Swan. My name's Dr Bishop. How are you feeling?" She asked, looking at chart in her hand. Dr Bishop had a small smile but it was hardly real.

That was the one thing she'd learnt fairly early on once she'd become a doctor. She now found it too hard to give a real smile; she'd give her small fake one to everyone. Now though, she was having a hard time even giving that.

"My throat hurts." Bella told her. Charlie handed her the cup of water and she reached for it. As she did so, she gasped in pain and clutched her arm as heat throbbed through it.

When she looked down at her arm she found the hard casing of the cast on it. Evidently she had broken her arm, but how had it happened? "What happened to me? Why am I here?" She managed to ask through the pain of her throat.

"You don't remember?" Charlie asked tensely.

Bella shook her head slowly making sure not to aggravate anything. "Did I fall? What's happened?" Charlie tightened his fists so much that they were now white. Dr Bishop, seeing his tense reaction, placed a pale hand on him but it didn't calm him down. If anything it made him more tense.

Dr Bishop began speaking and Bella tried hard to concentrate on what she was saying but as she explained, she felt increasing panic. "Two days ago you were found outside the hospital unconscious with a broken humerus and hand shaped bruises around your neck. You were also severely dehydrated."

The rhythm of the EKG increased somewhat, only to jump up at an alarming pace when Charlie suddenly stood up and punched the wall hard.

He'd never been so angry before - and Charlie prided himself on being the calm, level headed one out of himself and Renee. The last time he had been anywhere close to the anger he was feeling now was when he found out that Renne wanted a divorce. Even then, that paled in comparison.

Bella jumped at the sudden movement. Her movement sent Dr Bishop into action.

"Mr Swan, Mr Swan." Dr Bishop said, trying to reason with him. "I think it's better if you wait outside." He didn't seem like he was moving so she tried something else. "You're distressing Bella."

Charlie turned to Bella and saw her pale, shaking form and he took a deep breath. "I'm sorry." He said, quietly. She swallowed and nodded. "I'll just wait outside." As he turned to walk out of the door Bella saw the bloody hand from when he'd punched the wall.

When he left, Dr Bishop turned to Bella and began to once again approach her cautiously. "Take deep breaths Miss Swan. Count to 10 whilst you do so." Bella followed her instructions noticing that, while she still wanted to shut her eyes and burrow under the the sheets till this threat went away, she was more prepared to listen to her.

"What - what happened?" She asked. She wasn't sure that she wanted to know but wasn't that what you were supposed to ask? Something told her she didn't want to know.

"Before I answer I'd like you to think back and try to remember what happened." Bella looked at Dr Bishop for a moment. "I know. This is something that you don't want to remember but - and I am going to be frank with you Ms Swan - it is very likely you were raped."

It took a moment for Bella to understand the words. They sort of sounded like rushed mumbles and it took a moment to distinguish one syllable from another. But all too soon, the words made sense.

 _Likely you were raped._

She swallowed the bile that was suddenly forcing its way up her throat but something was still stuck in her throat once it had gone.

"How - how do you know?" She whispered.

Dr Bishop felt the oddest combination of anger and pity for the girl as she explained the bruises on her neck had caused a red flag to go up. They had checked elsewhere but what had sealed their suspicion and prompt action was her lack of underwear.

"With the permission of your father, while you were unconscious just after you were brought in, we performed an examination and found traces of blood." She paused for a moment and then delicately asked: "Miss Swan, were you a virgin?"

Bella nodded and Dr Bishop felt sympathy added to the ever growing storm. What had this girl done to deserve all of this? "I see. Well we found vaginal tearing suggesting there was vaginal penetration."

Bella found herself distancing from the words, focusing on a small crack in the skin of the wall. An odd thought popped into her head: Renee would have moaned at her about focusing on a crack. _This is stupid Bella_ , she would say. _You need to get a hobby. What about canoeing?_

Those days seemed so long ago now. What would have happened if she'd just gone with her mom and Phil?

Bella was shocked out of her thoughts when a hand was placed on her shoulder. She immediately flinched at the pain and Dr Bishop moved away quickly, thinking it had been her who had hurt her.

"I'm sorry Bella. I need to call in Officer Williams now." Bella gave a stiff nod and Dr Bishop sighed. She didn't know what to do to help the poor girl. She'd never had to deal with a rape; Forks was not a dangerous place. The most that happened was a few scrapes for some kids messing about.

There had been two murders since she had been a girl. Things like this just didn't happen here.

She looked back at the girl who was breaking in front of her and fought back a sob. Isabella Swan was not a bad girl, so then why would god let this happen to her? Dr Bishop had been taught that God was merciful and just, but this was not mercy, nor justice.

What made Bella Swan so different? Why had she been the target of so much pain and misery?

She closed the door and stood facing the police officer and Bella's father. "You can go in now." She said to Jamie Williams. He nodded solemnly and went to the door.

Charlie made to move for the door as well but was held back by the blonde man. "It's not wise chief." He said cautiously.

Charlie began to turn red. "That's my daughter in there Williams. My _seventeen_ year old daughter who is about to answer questions on who her _rapist_ is!"

He went for the door again but he was stopped once again. "Charlie!" Jamie said coldly. "I can't let you in there. You're compromised."

"Fuck you Williams!" Charlie shouted.

"I'm sorry. But you can't be in there Charlie. You have a temper and you know it. It might upset Bella and then what?" Charlie began to calm down some. "I'll do my best chief but you know how these things work. If she's too stressed, she'll lose it."

Charlie nodded and straightened himself out. "I'll just be in the room." At the look that Jamie gave him he frowned. "If I get too - if she gets stressed I'll leave. But that's my little girl in there Jamie. Can't let her go through this alone."

Jamie hesitated for a moment. It was no secret that Charlie had a temper, but the guy was dying inside; James could see the hurt and the pain that he felt so he sighed and nodded.

"Fine." He said. "But I swear Chief -"

"I got it." Charlie said. James nodded and braced himself for the next few agonizing minutes. He knocked on the door and waited for the okay to come in.

He wasn't prepared for how tiny the girl looked in the bed surrounded by large white sheets and the still, clearly visible bruises on her neck. He steeled himself and stayed near the door. He'd been warned about getting too close to rape victims.

"My name is Officer James Williams and -" He could feel Charlie moving around behind him. He was surprised the man hadn't run to his daughter immediately upon entering the room. This was hard. He'd never had to - never in his time on the force had he conducted this kind of interview. It made him sick.

Nevertheless he took a breath and tried again.

"Miss Swan, I -"

"Bella." He heard her whisper. "Call me Bella."

It hadn't been a conscious thing, Bella noted and she stared at the police officer somewhat cautiously. It had just been an automatic response. A familiarity. She was grateful.

James on the other hand was grateful that she had responded to something at all. Maybe, maybe it wouldn't be so hard to do. Maybe if she acted normally, he could almost pretend that he wasn't doing this.

"Bella." He started again. "I need to ask you some questions about that night. Do you remember it?" He asked.

Bella shook her head but then stopped. She did remember something - a face. "I - he - my car." She whispered. "Something about my car - and Mike."

"Mike? Mike Newton?" Charlie asked. Bella nodded slowly.

"I think so."

"Bella was he the last person you saw?" Charlie asked, moving closer to her. Jamie put a hand on his shoulder, a subtle reminder that he wasn't supposed to be asking questions. But Charlie ignored it.

He pushed the hand away and made for his daughter. He clasped her hand in his tightly and stared at her. "Bella - was he the last person you saw?"

Bella shook her head. The memories were too foggy. "I don't know. I can't remember."

Jamie noted down the name carefully. Forks was a small town so he knew Newton, or at least the family. They were good people. "Do you remember anything else Bella?" He asked gently.

"I - red. The colour red. And everything being blurry, like I was on a roller-coaster or something." She had gained some tone back to her voice now, though barely any. She still felt panicked by what she had been told but she could feel herself slowly distancing herself from the occurrence.

Now it was beginning to feel more like she was watching a terrible movie about some other pale, brunette girl. Not her.

Jamie noted down her comments though they didn't make much sense and thanked Bella. "If you remember anything else then call me - and if you can't get through then tell your dad okay?" Bella nodded and took the card he had given her.

Officer Jamie Williams left the hospital and went back to the precinct only to file the report and the random mumblings that Bella had given him.

At the moment, it did not look good for Mike Newton. He'd been the last face that Bella had remembered but Jamie hoped it would be easy enough to dismiss him. All they had to do was get some of the kid's DNA and compare it to the samples...left behind.

Still protocol called for the kid to be called in and questioned. Even if Jamie didn't think he'd done it.

For now though, he was making his way home where he would grab his 6 months pregnant wife and hold her close to him all night. He would sit there and watch the stupid shows she wanted to watch and silently make promises to do all her could to make sure nothing like this ever, _ever_ happened to his family.

 **[][][][]**

With clear instructions from the doctors for Charlie to get some rest, Bella was left alone to her thoughts.

They wanted a couple more days of observation before she could leave and Bella had been assured that there was no risk of pregnancy or STD's. She was thankful she supposed. That would have been uncomfortable to have to deal with.

Bella closed her eyes and tried to get herself to fall asleep. Dr Bishop had given her pain medication so nothing hurt. She found that she was tired enough that it was getting harder to keep her eyes open.

She wondered if she would have nightmares. But she wouldn't know till she was in one, she thought, minutes before she fell asleep.

Hours later, Bella woke up with sweat dripping down her face, her heart beating faster than she ever remembered and a knot in her stomach. But she had no recollection of her dream.

She looked over to see her dad fast asleep on a chair, still holding on to her hand and Bella relaxed slightly. At least nothing would happen to her while Charlie was there, she told herself.

 _It was only a dream. It was only a dream._ She whispered.


	2. TWO

**A.N: Thank you to all who Favorited, I really appreciate it. If I'm going to be honest - and I've been trying to a lot more lately - I was a bit underwhelmed by the reviews. I would like feedback, it's what makes a writer better and I really want to do well. But there is a special thanks to:**

SunflowerFran: Thank you for your review, I'm glad that you enjoyed the writing.

chelseacrews957: Don't worry. I don't know if you read the first one but I did say it was going to follow the same sort of story line so...

* * *

TWO

Mike Newton sat, heart racing and sweat building in places he didn't think they would; namely around his ball sack but that wasn't important.

"And what did you say to Miss Swan before she left?" Officer Williams asked him. Mike gulped and tried to think back to the day in question but he was finding it difficult to remember anything.

He'd never done well with one on one questioning from anyone - but now he was being interrogated by a well known member of the Washington Police Department. And because he was so nervous, it made him look all the more guilty.

He reached for the cup of water that had been placed in front of him and took a long gulp of it to help wash away the dryness and whatever was stuck in his throat.

Officer Williams waited patiently for Mike to continue telling him what he'd remembered of that day. He didn't think the kid was guilty - not at all. But why was he so nervous about anything? His parents had said he'd come to the shop around 5 pm which was the right amount of time to account for - well according to him.

"I uh...she didn't say much you know. I just - I offered to drop her home 'cause it was raining...and I uh...well I liked her - I still do - but I wanted to, you know, I wanted to help her get home 'cause it would have made me look...good. You know?"

He was so tongue tied that it was embarrassing.

"And what did she say?"

He swallowed again. This time it wasn't because he was scared or nervous but because he felt guilty. This had happened because he hadn't tried hard enough to get her to go with him.

"She said no. Something about, uh, walking being good exercise." He paused and then looked at Officer Williams. "Is she okay? Is she...you know...upset?"

Upset? Well the image of her blank stare and her small frame being swallowed up by the white sheets had Officer Williams' stare turn cold. Mike, with all his nervous behaviour, noticed the shift in demeanour and gulped.

Yes. She was obviously very upset.

"What happened to her?" He bravely asked. Actually they had all been curious when Bella hadn't shown up for school the next day. It wasn't like her to miss classes.

And when the weekend came and went and no one had seen hide or tale of her, people had began to worry. It didn't help that the Chief hadn't been answering the phone or opening the door to anyone. And something bad had obviously happened because he was being questioned. So a large part of Mine wanted to know what Fork's best kept secret was. It was a morbid curiosity. One that he was sure would come back to bite him in the ass.

"She was raped."

Ahh, he swallowed back the bile that was inching its way up to his throat. That's what it was.

"Can - is she going to be okay?" He asked horsely. Officer Williams regarded him. The kid didn't know how to deal with the news any better than he had. He felt sympathy for him.

"I don't know." That was the truth and Mike seemed to well enough.

"Can I go now?" He whispered, holding back the disgust he felt. This was his fault. If only he'd tried harder to get her to come with him. Then maybe _that_ wouldn't have happened to her.

Williams nodded and Mike got up out of the seat to leave. "Thank you for your cooperation Mr Newton." Mike didn't answer.

 **[][][][]**

Two days passed, and Bella was released from the hospital with strict instructions to go to a therapist every two days in order to help her deal with the trauma - though Charlie doubted it would help much at all.

Bella wouldn't talk. About anything.

Oh she had been functioning well over the last three days she had been home, but she seemed more like she was on autopilot; she would talk about the weather, asking when he was going to go on another fishing trip. She would even talk about school and how she missed her friends.

But it wasn't right.

He walked over to her cautiously. Her back was to him as she sat in a chair facing her only window. She'd been in that position for some time.

"Bella?" She didn't acknowledge him ao he walked closer and gently placed a hand on her shoulder. She jumped, and he quickly pulled back his hand in fear that he'd cause a panic attack.

At least there was recognition in her eyes when she turned to look at him finally. He didn't know how much of it he would be able to take if she didn't recognise him.

He saw the small smile that creeped across her mouth and it unnerved him. But he kept it to himself. Who was he to tell her that she shouldn't be so calm and collected about this situation?

But fuck it all.

He wanted to know that she reacted in some way because _he_ did.

Charlie spent the majority of his time now trying to find the fucker who'd raped his daughter but there was so little to go on that he was losing his mind. There wasn't even any evidence to go by. And so because of that, he spent the rest of what little free time he had now beating the shit out of anyone he could at the boxing ring.

"Dad."

He swallowed; her voice brought him back to what he was supposed to tell her. "They've questioned Mike Newton. They want you to come in."

She looked down for a moment, then looked back up at him. "Why Mike?" She asked. Charlie regarded her. He wondered if she was purposefully blocking everything out from her stay in the hospital or if she honestly didn't remember.

"Because you told officer Williams that he was the last person you remember seeing before -" He cut himself off this time. He didn't need Bella to do that for him.

She nodded and started fiddling with a piece of string she had found. "I can be ready in half an hour." She told him with a strained smile on her face. As if this was just a trip to the groceries or something.

Charlie clenched his fist so tightly his fingernails began biting into his skin. His mouth twitched and he nodded in reply. Bella watched him go and got up from her window seat and made her way to the bathroom,

She turned on the shower, placed her shower cover on her cast, removed her clothes and turned to face the hot water. She inhaled the steam and stood for a moment as the water slid over her still bruised body.

She washed her body, taking the small brown flannel and took the soap to it. It was her usual one, the one that smelt of strawberries. She breathed it in as she washed her body, taking care not to get her cast cover too wet. It was slow at first, but then as she increased the pace of her movements she began using more force. It was necessary to get the dirt off her. She knew that.

She wondered absently what time her mother's plane would be arriving. She was sure that it was sometime today but she couldn't remember. She would ask Charlie later on.

The water ran cold, quicker than it usually did. Bella stepped out and reached for her towel. The hand was pink - she wasn't sure if it was from the force or the heat of the shower. Maybe it was both. But it was _necessary_.

She stepped out, careful not to slip on the tiles, wet with condensation, and made her way back to her room.

She dressed and brushed her hair so that it wouldn't be notty. She patted her hair down as much as she could to soak up the remaining dampness and left it out. She couldn't blow dry it anyway. Her shoes were by the door. She put them on and walked down the stairs pleased that it had taken the allotted half an hour.

Charlie was waiting for her on the couch. "You ready to go?" She nodded. He nodded.

He stood up and reached for the keys to the police cruiser and then stopped. He turned to Bella. "Do you wanna take your truck?" He asked.

"If you want. But I can't drive it." She gave him the keys and his eyes rested a moment too long on her still pink hand. "The shower was too hot." She told him with a small smile. Charlie nodded though she wondered if he believed her?

Wasn't it important to make sure he didn't worry too much about her? He had other things to deal with and though she'd accepted that he would stay home till he knew she was fine, she was sure that he would soon see that she'd be able to handle things again.

 **[][][][]**

Charlie sat with Renee in the living room. She was nursing her coffee as if it was the last one she would ever get. Phil had checked into the small B&B in town and left the two to talk but they hadn't.

They were sitting there in silence as Bella lay sleeping upstairs.

Renee took a breath as if she were about to speak but Charlie ignored it. She'd been doing that for most of the night and nothing had come of it. He was too busy trying to listen out for Bella to make sure she was okay. He'd done that every night since she'd come back from the hospital.

So he was surprised when he heard Renee speak. "What?" He asked.

"She was supposed to be safe here." She wasn't looking at him when she said that. Her eyes were still glued to the coffee that had gotten cold a long time ago. "She said she wanted to move here so I agreed. But she was supposed to be _safe_. Because nothing _ever_ happens in Forks does it?"

She said it bitterly and Charlie was almost taken aback by how much bite there had been in that sentence. But he narrowed his eyes slightly. "What are you trying to say?" He asked carefully.

"She shouldn't have moved here." She told him bluntly. "I knew something bad would happen. I felt it."

"You felt it?" Charlie asked, not believing what he'd heard. "You felt it?"

"Yes." She replied stiffly.

Charlie looked at her as if she were mad. "Then why didn't you keep Bella with you if you _felt_ something bad was going to happen? Better yet, why didn't you call Bella to tell her she was going to get raped that day!"

Renee jumped up, spilling the cold drink everywhere and glared at Charlie. "How dare you blame this on me? Where were _you_ when this happened to her huh Charlie? What's the point on being the chief of police if you can't even catch a fucking rapist? Why don't you blame yourself! She was in your care!"

"You think I don't?" He asked, standing up so he was standing over Renee. He was fuming, they both were. "You think I don't stay up all night trying to find some lead? That I don't wish that I could have helped her? Fuck you and your mystical shit!"

They heard the step creaking and looked towards it. Bella was there, watching her parents argue. Renee stepped forwards, practically running to Bella. "Sweetie are you okay?" Bella let Renee hug her, only giving the slightest pressure back.

"Did we wake you?" Charlie asked nervously. He was embarrassed that she'd overheard their arguing like children, placing the blame. It wasn't about them, it never was.

Bella shook her head and looked at them stonily. Renee moved back and tried not to shudder under the unfamiliar gaze of her daughter. She bit her lip as she saw the cast and for a second she could pretend nothing had happened.

And then she saw the bruises around Bella's neck and she tried to swallow back the bile that was threatening to rise up from her stomach.

"How are you mom? I was wondering when you were going to be here. I forgot to ask dad earlier. How was the flight?" Renee bit back her tears and looked towards Charlie. He was clenching his fist. Renee looked back to Bella and gave a small smile.

"The uhh - the flight was good baby. Phil is here, but he wanted to give you space. Make sure you were...comfortable." She didn't know what to do or how to play out this situation. Bella seemed like she was just ignoring everything that had happened to her and she didn't know how to respond to that.

"I'm going back to bed." She said and began turning for her room. "Goodnight dad, mom."

 _Let her know you're there for her. That you love her_. Phil had told her. It wasn't like he had any experience with this either but his advice made her feel somewhat calmer. She decided to take it.

"Bella -" she stopped and turned back to her mom. "I - I want you to know that I love you. And that I'm here for you, no matter what you're feeling. You can - if you want - you can talk to me."

Bella nodded and thanked Renee. "But I think I'll be okay." She said and then went back to her room.

Renee looked to Charlie only to see that he was clenching his teeth in an effort not to say anything to Bella. "Is that how she is now?" She asked in a whisper. Charlie nodded and Renee started crying.

What had happened to her baby?

"She's getting therapy for it." Charlie said. As if that was some sort of consolation prize for Renee's mood. At least she was getting the help that she needed. "She has it every couple of days."

She cleared her throat. "When's -" it wasn't working so she tried again. "When's her next session?"

"Uhh, tomorrow I think." Charlie said.

"Can I take her?"

Charlie nodded. He was glad, in all honesty, not to have to take her to therapy. He wouldn't have to see her being so fake.

 **[][][][]**

Renee waited in the car trying to get herself ready for seeing Bella again. She had left it - telling Bella - to Charlie the night before. There was only so much she could take at the moment.

She found herself swallowing the lump that had suddenly formed in her throat as Bella walked out of the house. Even her body language had changed; Bella had used to hold herself with a quiet confidence, subtle and just there but she'd been able to see it.

Now…

Bella opened the car door and slumped into the car, not even giving Renee that fake smile she had seen the night before.

Now she was just hollow.

"Morning baby," Renee said quietly. She set the car into drive just to have an excuse to look away from Bella's tired eyes and she suddenly felt guilty. This was her daughter. Why was she trying to ignore her? "Are you ready?"

Bella nodded. Renee had already started driving the car. The sessions were held in port Angeles because well, that was the closest place that practiced therapy. They had half an hour to go and from the looks of it, it would be a long one.

Still, Renee tried to engage with her daughter.

"What are your friends like Bella?" She had decided before she came to collect Bella that if she did talk to her, she would keep to neutral topics. "Your dad's told me a bit about them - being the Chief has its perks I guess."

"I don't really know."

"Haven't you talked to them?" She bit her lip as she realised that the way she'd phrased the question made it seem like it was Bella's fault that they'd had no contact so she quickly tried to fix her mistake. "I mean, didn't they come to see you?"

Bella shook her head and leaned back in her chair. "I didn't want them to come." She told her. Renee nodded slowly and then place her attention back on the road when it was made clear that Bella didn't want to talk anymore.

The rest of the drive was spent in self deprecating silence.

 **[][][][]**

Bella looked at her therapist with hooded eyes. Dr Kate Winslow was the best in her field and she'd been assured that she was in good hands.

Bella had always trusted the adults in her life to do right by her and so she'd listened to Dr Bishop when the woman had told her that therapy would be the best way to deal with the trauma, just as she'd trusted that her dad wanted her to get better.

He didn't think she was well. She could see it in his eyes every time he looked at her.

She was no longer his little girl, his sweet Bella who's only real care was that her mom would get a bit too into her herbal teas or that she'd maybe bring home a boy that he didn't like. She knew she wasn't that girl anymore and she knew that he could see it. He knew that she was tainted.

So she did her best to fix that. That was why she was at the therapy sessions even though they didn't seem to be helping. That was why she'd gotten a hold of Eric and he'd given her those sleeping pills. So that for once, Charlie could get a good night's sleep without worrying that she would wake him up in a panic attack.

"Bella do you feel like ignoring your trauma - your rape will make it go away?" Dr Winslow asked. Bella looked up and gave her well practiced answer.

"No." She gave a shake of the head. "I know that it won't help to ignore. And I'm trying to fix it but -" She swallowed. She couldn't even lie. Not for Charlie or her mom who was waiting outside the door for her to come out and be a little bit better.

Dr Winslow wrote something down on her yellow pad of paper and Bella wanted to see what it was. "Bella you said you wanted to 'fix it'. Do you mean fix yourself? Do you no think you're whole anymore?"

Bella looked down ashamed that someone else had figured it out.

Dr Winslow moved forward in her seat. "Listen to me very closely Bella. You are not to blame for this. You did nothing wrong."

"I could have fought back." Bella whispered.

Dr Winslow blinked at the comment Bella had made though she didn't see it. She was trying to keep the well of emotion from bubbling over the top. "Do you remember something?"

She shook her head no. "But I could have. I should have. Maybe then -"

"Bella." It was said so firmly that she had to lift her head up. It was ingrained in her. "The only thing that causes rape are the rapists. You had no part in this. None of it is your fault."

Bella looked down again and Dr Winslow tried to catch her eye. "Your mom and your dad are worried about you. Not about your mental state or you not being 'whole' as you put it, but you. They love you."

How could they love her?

"Because they are your parents Bella. And nothing will ever change that." She hadn't realised she'd said that out loud.

Dr Winslow sat back in her chair. "Our session is over." Bella nodded and moved to stand up. "I want you to come an extra day Bella. I think we're making good progress and I think you just need some time to yourself. Have a place where you feel no one is judging you."

"Okay," she replied.

"Can you get your mom for me please?" Bella nodded and moved to open the door. Renee stood up when she heard the door open and looked anxiously at Bella. "Mrs Dwyer, I'd like a moment of your time."

Renee nodded and moved to the door. She ran a hand through Bella's hair and sighed as she moved away from the touch reflexively. "Just wait by the chairs please Bella." She nodded and moved.

"Mrs Dwyer, Renee" she began when Bella was far enough away that she wouldn't hear them. "I think Bella feels like she has to make herself better so that she doesn't worry you." Renee swallowed and nodded.

"I wanted to ask that you and Charlie keep telling her that you love her. Try not to make her feel wrong for taking her time in dealing with her rape."

"Are you suggesting -"

"Not at all. But everyone wants Bella to get better - to stop having to deal with all her grief and pain. As human beings we begin trying to push away anything that hurts us including any negative emotions. I've seen it in parents so many times."

Renee looked down guiltily as she realised that that was what she'd been doing. "I'm not saying this to make you wrong. I just wanted to make you aware of it. If you'd like, I can give you the number of a support line for family members. We sometimes forget that they aren't the only ones dealing with the pain because we feel like we have no right."

"I'd appreciate that." Renee said. Dr Winslow smiled and put a reassuring hand on her arm.

"Good. Now in the meantime, remember to reassure her. If she wants to talk, let her but don't push. She's the only one that will be able to deal with her trauma, as much as you wish it could be you instead."


	3. THREE

**AN: Ok, we have Cullen contact. Like I said, this was going to happen earlier and it was kind of just a natural progression with how this story was going. I honestly didn't expect them to be in the story so quickly but I have my reasons. Now, on to reviews, and I have to say, once again I'm a little disappointed.**

 **greygirl2358** \- Thank you for your review. Later on you'll see why they thought it was Mike but because Bella can't remember then the reader won't know, ya know?

 **SunflowerFran** \- Thank you for both your review and your PM. I do get that it's a new story but so many people voted for it to happen. And I had like 56 views to the chapter but only two reviews so you can understand why I am a bit peeved. Anyways, no Bella can't actually remember what happened. It would be interesting if she was holding something back and it's certainly something I would have her do in her need to make sure everyone else is ok. That falw actually annoys me so it's gonna change real soon.

* * *

THREE

Bella woke with a gasp, sweat beading her forehead for the third night in a row. She panted, trying desperately to remember the dream that was slipping through the cracks again. She needed to know, something - anything that would give her a clue to who her rapist was.

She looked to the side of her bed and opened the draw. This had been happening for about a week and a half now and it was becoming routine. She took out the small white bottle. It shook as she opened it and she saw the half empty bottle. She felt a little guilty for using so many; she would have to get more but they weren't cheap.

Eric had been kind enough to give her them for a discount price but that was still too much. She had about half now, but Charlie usually left money laying around the house. She could just take that if she had to - but only is she _really_ had to.

Some part of Bella knew this was wrong. Some long buried memory recalled that overdoses happened far too frequently - but that wasn't going to happen. She was careful. She only needed a couple.

She took two from the bottle and chased them down with the water besides her bed. She made sure to put the bottle back in her draw before laying back in bed.

She was facing the window. Bella couldn't help but feel someone was looking at her but she closed her eyes and turned over onto her other side. There was no point in fostering that idea because then she would never get to bed.

Sleep took a bit longer to come than it had before, but soon her eyes were drooping and she fell back into a reasonable sleep.

A couple of days later Bella sat in the living room. Renee and Phil were over and they had decided along with Charlie that they would have a family lunch. They were asking her what she would like to eat but in all honesty, Bella had been having a hard time eating anything.

The lack of proper sleep had made her feel a bit nauseous.

But they were making an effort to keep her feeling secure and comfortable. She'd heard what Dr Winslow had said to her mom. So she decided to play along. "Lasagna." She said. Maybe all she needed was some proper food.

Renee gave a huge smile and began bouncing around the kitchen. "Alright, lasagna it is." Then she stopped for a second. "How do you make that again?"

Bella smiled - a real, honest smile that travelled to her eyes. Phil noticed and he gave his own smile. "Hey Bella what of you come to the store with us? You know how Renee is."

"I resent that!" Renee said. Bella smiled again and she felt her heart swell. "We can go before your hospital appointment."

Charlie frowned. He wasn't so sure that Bella should leave if she wasn't comfortable with it. He'd seen how she reacted whenever she'd had to leave the house before. "I don't know. Maybe you could just write down the ingredients Bells. You don't have to go if you don't want to."

Renee frowned at Charlie and Bella quickly sat up in order to stop the fight that she was sure was going to happen. "It's okay dad. I want to go." Charlie nodded but he was still frowning. "I'll get my coat." I told them.

Soon they were all in Phil's car and were driving to the supermarket. It was a big complex with other shops, a B&Q, Walmart being among them. Bella got out of the car and followed her mom and Phil to the shopping carts.

Once they were inside the shop Bella began directing them to what they needed for the lasagna. It didn't take long before they had all they needed and were making their way to the till. "Oh, we need a screwdriver." Phil said.

Bella looked at him and he grinned. "Renee broke a draw at the hotel." He said. Bella raised her eyebrows but she supposed it was something her mom - and her - could do. "I'm gonna head over to the B&Q." He said.

"Can I come?" She asked. Phil raised a brow of his own and Bella blushed. It was the first one she had done for a long time. "I want to get some shades for my window. It's too bright."

He nodded. "Okay." He looked to Renee and she nodded. "We'll meet you by the car." He said and gave her the car keys. Bella followed Phil through the large store to the aisle that held screwdrivers.

Bella had never seen so many different types of screwdrivers before and she had no idea why there were so many. Surely there would just need to be one or two types. How many different heads were there?

Phil seemed to also be having some trouble finding what he wanted because of all the variety there. "I'm going to find the blinds." Bella told him. He looked a bit wary letting her go off by herself but she gave him a small smile. "I'll meet you here." She said. He sighed and let her go.

Bella walked through the large store and found the aisle for blinds. They were so many. It was confusing and the fact that they each needed a specific size only added to her frustration.

It came on unexpectedly; a chill ran over Bella and she began to break out in a cold sweat. Someone was watching her again. Her pulse started racing and she stood frozen, her hand still reaching out to look at one of the labels.

She swallowed and turned slowly to look for whoever was watching her but she saw no one. The aisle was clear with only her in it.

Bella quickly snatched one of the packets closest to her and walked slowly enough that she wouldn't draw too much attention to herself, but faster than she would have usually. She found Phil back where she had left him and he smiled at her.

His smile dropped though when he saw her paler-than-usual skin and heard her ragged breathing. "Are you okay Bella? Did something happen?"

"No." She said too quickly. "I - I just - there were too many people and I freaked out a bit." She said. Phil looked at her closely. She could tell that he didn't believe her and when he nodded she cursed silently. He was going to tell her parents what had happened and it was going to be a large step back.

There was no point now, but she gave him a small fake smile and as soon as she did she knew she'd made matters worse.

"Come on." He said. "If we don't hurry you'll be late for your doctor's appointment." She nodded and followed him to the till, still feeling the unseen eyes on her.

 **[][][][]**

Carlisle Cullen had always respected the choices his coven had made. He cared for them enough to consider them a family - he had for many years now. He loved each and every one of them as though they were his own children and he knew that Esmee felt the same way. Though sometimes their personalities clashed and if proved a test of patience for them both.

Now was one of those times.

"How could you have lost your phone Emmett? Are you that stupid not to keep in it your hand when running?" Edward asked.

Rosalie growled as Edward began to criticize her mate. Jasper felt her anger split in two ways and guessed it was between both Edward and Emmett. He only supposed that it was because Emmett had worried her so much. He rolled his eyes at the melodrama Edward was creating. He needed to get laid.

Edward turned and glared at Jasper who only smirked. Hey if he didn't want to hear it then he shouldn't be listening. "It doesn't work like that and you know it." He hissed. Jasper only shrugged again, waving off the rolls of annoyance Edwards was giving.

Esmee - who had been watching her children with amusement now that the initial scare had passed - decided it was time to intervene. They were surprisingly still very much like teenagers though some were well over eighty years old.

"What happened Emmett?" She asked. He'd been unusually quiet during their argument and that wasn't like him at all. Emmett was usually there to antagonise Edward - he found it humerous.

"I was scoping out the best places to hunt - there's supposed to be bear." He said grinning. Edward rolled his eyes and motioned for him to carry on. "Anyway I caught a strange smell -"

"The wolves?" Carlisle asked and Rosalie's face crumpled with disgust as she remembered their smell.

Emmett shook his head. "No it was odd and I only got a whiff of it before I lost it. So I ignored it and carried on. Later I smelt it again, only stronger so I followed it."

"That must have been when I lost you." Alice said. Emmett shrugged. She was the psychic, not him.

"Followed it to a store, went looking around and it was a girl."

"Another vampire?" Jasper asked this time. It was dangerous to go to another's territory and though Carlisle had checked - and from what he'd heard about the wolves - he doubted there would be another coven so close by or living in the town.

"That's the thing. She was human - she had a pulse a heartbeat, but she smelt off." Emmett told them. "It was weird man. Like she'd been marked but she wasn't. That's the closest I can come to describing it."

Carlisle hummed. He had picked up an odd scent in the hospital when he'd gone to submit his paperwork for the job but it was faint. Like it had been days.

"We're not going to find another place are we?" Rosalie asked, annoyance lacing her voice. She crossed her arms and frowned. It was hard enough having to move from place to place every few years, but now they may not even be moving to Forks in the first place. Just because of some human girl.

"No we'll continue with our plans." Carlisle said. "We'll just make sure to keep an eye on her when we get there. How old did she look Emmett?"

"Seventeen, eighteen."

"Then she'll be at your school." Rosalie scoffed and Alice looked wary. She didn't like that Emmett had just disappeared once he'd made the choice to involve himself with her - even if it was just to follow the girl. It had never happened before and she was naturally cautious.

Jasper took a hold of his mate's hand and replaced her worry with calamity. She gave him a grateful smile and turned her attention back to Edward who was thinking hard.

"What did she look like Emmett?" He asked. Emmett thought of the girl and Edward went still for a moment. Alice looked to him carefully and suddenly his future began to get blurry.

"Edward," she began.

"Don't worry, only from a distance." He promised both Alice and Carlisle. Alice's tone had raised a red flag in his mind. He knew Edward to well; family meant very much to him and he would do as much as he could to keep them safe.

"If you mess this up for us Edward," Rosalie threatened.

"I will stay away Rose. Don't worry. I can hear her thought, find out if she's a threat."

Esmee placed a hand on his shoulder. "Alright, but please, at least wait till we move to Forks. She may get suspicious if she sees you. Forks is a small town and everyone knows each other."

"Esmee right," Carlisle told him. "At least if you wait it can be under the guise of being new in town." Edward nodded and Alice sighed. He was determined to do this. "We'll leave this weekend. You'll be there in time for school on Monday."

"Oh joy." Rosalie said. "School." Emmett only grinned. School was one of the few times Rosalie wished that they were able to sleep like the myths suggested. Constantly being bombarded by teenage testosterone and jealous pre-teens were not something she aspired to be around for the rest of her life.

With all those unsubtle leers and snide remarks, Rosalie was grateful she didn't have Edward's gift - or curse as the case was most of the time.

And yet, she was going to start it all over again in a few days.

 **[][][][]**

Dr Bishop was sitting in her chair minding her cup of coffee and smiled as she remembered the first few times she'd had the stuff. She had hated it. Mer mom had moved from Britain to Seattle and met her dad there, so Alice had grown up drinking tea.

She had downright refused to drink the cup that had been handed to her on the first night of her residency, but the painstakingly long hours had won over and she gave in. It wasn't long before coffee was a regular occurrence for the woman and soon enough she'd began to enjoy it.

She could still see her mother mock teasing her; clutching her heart and moaning out woes of betrayal. Alice had laughed and told her mom maybe it was time to convert.

The memory was a happy one and she usually thought of it when she had a moment to spare with her mug in her hand.

Her peace was broken by a nurse giving a small cough to attract attention to herself. Alice looked up to see the pale pink scrubs and smiled at the man. "David."

"Afternoon Dr Bishop. I have Isabella Swan's test results."

"That's nice." She said slowly. "But why are you telling me now?"

David gave her the folder holding the results of all the tests they'd taken. "I won't be here Monday and the other nurses have to re-file the store room. It's taking alot longer than anticipated after the break in." Alice nodded and took a hold of the file.

"Thanks David." He gave her a small smile and went on his way.

Well while it was there she supposed she should look over the results. It was a caution she didn't necessarily want to have to take, but it was one they needed too. Along with giving Bella a pregnancy prevention, the hospital had also done tests to ensure she hadn't contracted any STD's.

Alice wondered how she wasn't flinching so much while thinking of the young teenager and her circumstances. Did that mean that she was growing immune? That she was desensitizing herself to it?

She hoped not.

Still the small twinge of fear for the girl was still present as she held the results of what could be a life changing event in her hands. Once again Dr Bishop found herself praying to a god she wasn't sure existed. Bella didn't need anything else to deal with.

She opened the brown envelope and took out the results. She took a moment to read over the data and then she sighed in relief. Bella Swan was 100% clean.

She wasn't sure whether to count this as good luck or not. At least her rapist had had the decency to use a condom - though their earlier testing had established that. Dr Bishop now knew that at least Bella had the chance of coming out of this with the possibility of a normal life.

But as she looked at the tests again she frowned. The hCG levels were far too high for Bella. She looked over the blood work again and it checked out, but that didn't make any sense. For there to be that level of hCG, Bella Swan would have to be -

Dr Bishop stood up and found a nurse. "Can you run Isabella Swan's blood work again focusing on finding hCG hormone?" The nurse frowned.

"But isn't it too early to be looking for that?" She asked.

"Yes," Dr Bishop nodded, "and I think it's just a mistake, but I want to make sure." The nurse nodded and headed off to re-run the blood work.

 **[][][][]**

Following Carlisle's instructions, Edward waited for the weekend to come and for his family to legitimately move into town before he began investigating the threat. Emmett had called it 'snooping' earlier that day but Edwards had promptly ignored him.

The smell had been at the hospital as well, according to Carlisle. It was faint but definitely there. This had only made Edward's resolve stronger.

He had made his way to the edge of the forest before he'd smelt something strange - and it hadn't been the mutts. He remembered their distinctly strong dog-like smell and this was not it.

Emmett had been correct in how he'd described the scent. It was as if she'd been marked but not so. There was a mixture of her human scent and this one and it unnerved him, but he needed to know more.

Mere seconds after the thought became apparent to his mind his phone rang. he could feel the vibrations through his jeans, though he would hear it if it was on silent too.

"Yes Alice?" Who else would it have been?

"You're future is fuzzier than before." Her bell like voice was layered with worry.

"I'm not going to get hurt," he insisted. All he was going to do was get a closer look. Alice groaned and he assumed she'd lost him completely. "At least let someone be with you - just in case." She said.

"I don't need help." He told her. He heard Carlisle sigh and Edward clenched his jaw slightly. "Fine. Will you feel better if Jasper comes?" He asked.

"No." She said. But Edward knew she would tell Jasper to meet him. Of all of them, Jasper had the most experience dealing with threats. His war history had educated him in the hazards of moving into another vampire's territory and for all they knew, this human was their property. Edward should have brought him with him in the first place but Jasper was still relatively new to their vegetarian lifestyle.

Jasper was with him only a few seconds later and Alice didn't hang up till she heard him.

"How do you propose we do this?" Edward asked softly. Jasper looked to him then at the house. His nose twitched and Edward wondered for one short moment if Jasper could handle it.

 _I'm fine._ His voice rang through Edward's mind sure and strong. He had a handle on his thirst. "This was your idea. What were you going to do?" Jasper asked.

"Wait. We can't do anything really until they're all asleep. So far there seem to be four people in the house, two men, two women."

Jasper nodded. Edward could see his strategical mind begin to process and evaluate the situation. "Have you identified the thing responsible for the scent?"

"No. Too light." Jasper nodded again. Then there was an increase in sound. The door opened and two of the humans stepped out. The actions that happened next ironically occurred with numerical symmetry.

One: the scent they had been tracking for the better part of the morning was suddenly filling the air; a mixture of strawberries, freesias and that unknown quality.

Two: Jasper suddenly became rigid and Edward sprung onto his brother in order to prevent the brief thought of killing the two humans.

Suddenly all Jasper saw was prey. There were two humans outside the door, plus the two that he could hear just beyond the threshold. He would have an estimate of ten seconds with the first, before the other humans would understand what was going on and he wouldn't be able to drain the blood quick enough to stop their screams.

He could snap their necks which would give him ample time to sample their blood but the taste of death would soon settle in as the body didn't have enough time to produce the adrenaline.

Edward heard all of this.

He concentrated on sending Jasper feelings of remorse as he tried to remind him how he would feel if he did kill those people. And they were people; they had lives, families, children, husbands and wives.

It was working well enough. And as the wind carried the scents across the forest, Jasper began to lose the predator mentality. Edward only let him go when he was sure that he would be fine.

"Maybe you should have brought Emmett." He said finally.

"That wasn't your fault," Edward said. Jasper scoffed but Edward persisted. "You began projecting - only for a second - but I felt it. Those scents, those particular ones overwhelmed you. There was nothing you could have done."

Jasper pursed his lips still not believing Edward. "If you had really wanted to kill them you would have. I couldn't have stopped you. You only had those thoughts for a second. That's it."

Jasper looked somewhat assured but Edward could still hear the guilt in his thoughts. He could still _see it_ etched into his face highlighted by the few streaks of moonlight that were peeking through the clouds.

"It's her." Jasper said through clenched teeth. "She has such a strong scent. It's mixed as well."

Edward looked to see who Jasper was pointing out. He saw a girl standing there, mahogany hair that was slightly limp, as if she hadn't brushed it for a long time but the mix of reds and browns still made it intriguing to watch in the light.

She was pale from what he could see though the tint of the light bulb she was standing under gave her a orange glow. He could only see her profile but she was thin, lithe came to mind as he watched her wave. But there was also some roundness to her cheeks; she was only just starting to gain some weight but her figure was still beautifully proportional, the Golden Ratio.

Jasper felt the sudden curiosity and intrigue from Edward and turned to watch the man next to him. He'd never seen that look in Edward's eyes before and his brow furrowed.

Why had that girl affected him so?

Hours passed and Edward found himself back at the edge of the forest. He'd ignored the knowing and worried gaze in Alice's eyes. He wasn't going to hurt the girl - because she was human; both he and Jasper had seen that, had _smelt_ it.

There was just something about Isabella Swan that piqued his curiosity, that was all, that was it.

All he wanted to do was get rid of it, and it would only make the intrigue stronger if he kept himself away. He knew that much about his personality.

He ran and jumped up onto the tree near her window - he'd heard her walk into this room and smiled at how easy it would be - but growled when he saw that there were curtains blocking his view.

He would have to find another way to view her. Maybe he would try at school.

He smirked as he got down; maybe there was something useful about being enrolled at school for once.


	4. FOUR

**A.N: Apologies. This chapter was kicking my ass for some reason. It was just all over the place - and I mean that literally; I was writing bits and pieces hear and there, trying to find a way to get them all together. And BMTC isn't really helping as a reference point atm because this part (the bit before she finds out she's pregnant) is glossed over. So here you go. I give you all my word - whoever is acutally reading could you let me know you're alive through some pm's/reviews? I do like those - that chapter 5 will be up next tuesday.**

* * *

Four

Charlie stared aimlessly at all the paint colours that were on offer. Why did there need to be so many? What the hell kind of colour was 'taupe' anyway?

He sighed. He didn't know what he was doing here. He should have taken Renee up on her offer to come with him but Charlie had wanted to do this by himself. He'd never really gotten the chance to do this for Bella before and now was his chance.

Of course, Renee hadn't explained to him how difficult it was to redecorate a whole room had she?

All he was going off was basic knowledge and the two decades old memories of Renee when they had first moved into their own home. Charlie chuckled. He'd very clearly remembered the 'nesting' stage of Renee's pregnancy. She wouldn't let him touch a single thing in baby Bella's room.

He sighed. "Are you okay sir?" Charlie was not afraid to admit that he jumped in the air a little. He felt his heart race increase slightly and frowned. The kid had come out of nowhere. Said kid smiled a little like he knew what Charlie was thinking.

"Sorry to startle you sir but you seemed a little out of your depth." Jeez the kid was blunt wasn't he.

"Uhh, trying to redecorate my daughter's room but… can't really make heads or tails of what to do." The kid nodded.

"Well I don't know very much about it either but my mother is an interior decorator. I could give you her number if you wanted." Charlie stared at the kid for a second. That seemed a bit too convenient for some reason.

"Right. What's her name?" Forks was a small town. Everyone knew everyone and it itched under his skin that Charlie didn't know who this kid was. He'd never seen the boy before but he couldn't have been much older than Bella. Speaking off, why wasn't he at school?

"Esme Cullen." He didn't recognise the name. "We've just moved here from Detroit.. My father, Carlisle, is a doctor. He'll be working at Forks Hospital."

Well that made more sense.

"Right," Charlie said slowly. "How old are you Edward?"

"Seventeen sir." Well, that basically verified his thoughts. He looked the kid over and tried to determine why he wasn't at school but then shrugged. He would give him this week he supposed. It was possible that his papers hadn't come through yet so yeah, he had a potential reason to be out of school.

"Alright Edward. What are you doing here?" He asked.

Edward shrugged, but even that movement had this air of confidence about it, like he knew his place in the world. "Just checking out the area for Esmee."

"Esme?" Thought that was his mom.

"Well, she and Carlisle adopted us. They weren't too keen on us thinking of them as replacements but I still pretty much think of her as my mom." Charlie nodded and Edward watched him, listening to his thoughts. He may as well start planting their story while he was here. It was efficient and it would begin building some trust between himself and the man.

He didn't altogether know what he was going to do once me met the girl. Maybe she was just a passing thought; something to keep him occupied for a little while before he finally discovered what was so mysterious about her.

But then Edward always had been a planner, a trait that had only intensified in his death. Carlisle had supposed that it came from the lack of control he'd had over the deaths of his mother and father but it didn't matter very much to him.

Having a plan had always helped his family in the past and if it helped them stay safe then why would he try to change it. And it paired with Alice's visions and Jasper's tactical mind, they were most always safe.

So he would plan for what to do if the girl turned out to be more than a passing fancy. And that plan began with gaining the trust of her father. And he made quick work on that plan because not too long after that conversation, Edwards was following Charlie Swan back to his car to help him.

 **[][][][]**

Bella was jolted into a state of awareness when the front door slammed open. She had been watching some sort of reality tv program and had drifted off into her own thoughts though she hadn't wanted that to happen.

She turned to see Charlie carrying bags full of things to redecorate Bella's room. She smiled a small smile at how much he was doing for her and she made a note to maybe try and go fishing with him, or have Billy and Jake over one day so he could have some semblance of normality once again.

Something was a bit different now though. Charlie was talking to someone; she'd never heard this voice before.

A boy followed Charlie into the house. He was pale. Reddish brown hair hung in a chaotic mess and his very white teeth were visible through the smile he had. He turned to look at her. He had yellow eyes.

"Bella?" Her eyes moved to Charlie who was smiling. "How was your day?" He asked.

"Fine." She told him. Her eyes moved towards the boy who was now placing the bags in his hand onto the table. Charlie saw her looking at him and nodded.

"This is Edward Cullen. He and his family have just moved here from Detroit." This piece of information gave Bella the permission to openly stare at Edward without it being rude, although he was doing the same thing to her she was sure.

Edward gazed openly at Bella. The first thing he had noticed was her enticing smell. It was incredible though he didn't want to rip her throat out for it, it was more like he wanted to hold her close and breathe it in. But there was something to it that wasn't hers solely.

He didn't know how to explain it; he just knew that it wasn't all her.

There was a bitterness to the delicate smell that had his mind reeling in possibilities and the need to find out what was wrong with her. The closest he could come to comparing it was with a human that had a terminal illness; their blood smelt...off. He wanted to get rid of it.

It was a strange impulse, one that he clearly didn't altogether understand.

Perhaps it was some long buried instinct rearing it's head for this one particularly fragile girl. Her skin was after all so very translucent in this light that Edward wasn't sure how it served as any protection.

There was a small crease in between her big doe-like eyes that she didn't seem conscious of having. Her body was stiff, as if keeping guard. A smart thing to do considering what he was. Though he sensed curiosity coming from her as well. That was to be expected somewhat. Humans were an inquisitive lot.

That was the next thing that caught his attention. He could only sense, only see and interpret her body language and not actually pick up her thoughts. There was nothing but silence from the unusual girl.

These thoughts all passed through his mind in the time it took for him to walk through the front door and place the bags Charlie had handed him on the table. A total of 10 seconds.

"Hello." His voice was as smooth as silk and Bella shivered; his voice had washed over her, caressing her while also causing her to feel somewhat at ease. Bella frowned at the sudden Deja Vu she felt. She tried to remember where she had heard his voice before but there was nothing. Though she was sure that she wouldn't be able to forget a voice like his.

Only her eyes moved to follow his body. He was moving, placing his hand at a reasonable distance for a stranger to be from her body. Bella looked at the hand for more time than was necessary. "Bella?"

Her eye contact broke and Bella looked to Charlie for a second before looking back. She'd stared longer than was polite and so to fix her mistake she made to move her hand though it was awkward because she still hadn't moved from the couch.

Bella knew a second before she touched him, for some reason, that his hand would be cold. Too cold for -

"Nice to meet you." He told her.

"Thanks for the card Edward." Charlie said. Edward let go of Bella's hand and walked over to Charlie. "I think I'll call your mom sometime soon."

"No problem Chief." Edward replied. Charlie slapped him on the back and walked him to the door. Bella turned back.

She was feeling queasy and sick. He her head was hurting and the room was spinning more than it was supposed to. She tried to stand up and walked shakily to the staircase where she sat down, battling the need to throw up. "Bella? Bella!"

She grimaced at Charlie. "I'm fine dad."

"You don't look fine." The worry was colouring his voice. He knew Dr Bishop had given her a clean bill of physical health but still. "You have a temperature." He said. Bella shook her head.

"I think it's just a really bad period."

"Oh." Charlie was sufficiently flustered. Bella breathed a sigh of relief that he wasn't as worried as she had been and told him she was just going to go to bed. "Alright. Renee and Phil will be coming around soon. Come down if you feel up to it." Bella nodded and made her way to her room.

As she lay down she tried to figure out why she felt so odd around him. She was drawn to Edward Cullen true, but she also wanted to get as far away from him as her fevered body would allow. That wasn't a normal feeling was it?

 **[][][][]**

Of course Edward heard her enter before she was behind him but he ignored her, favouring the piece he was playing over what he already knew was running through her mind.

Nevertheless he allowed her to speak her mind as only Rosalie did best. "You smell like her." He continued the symphony, not looking up at her but watching as his fingers began to develop new patterns.

"I suppose I do." He told her matter of factly. Rosalie bristled, glaring at him.

 _Fine. If you want to put our family in danger then do so. But think about Carlisle and Esme. They like it here and if you do anything to mess it up they'll move. And it will be because of you._

"I appreciate your concern Rosalie but I won't hurt her."

"Then why are you so interested in her?" She asked.

Edward stopped moving his hands. He turned to her from the seat and stood up. Rosalie watched him with intensity and Edward allowed it. "I can't read her thoughts." Rosalie's mouth twitched in anger. That was it? That was what made him so interested in her that he would risk their family?

"Yes." He said.

 _Then you're more selfish than I thought you were._ Edward shrugged and Rosalie stood there for a moment longer. _There's something wrong with that girl Edward and you know it. She smells off._ And then she left him alone.

It wasn't just curiosity now. He had met her, he had felt some sort of attachment to her. Whatever she was, Isabella Swan was at the forefront of his mind. But Rosalie was right. She did smell wrong and he wanted to know why. If she really was sick, then what was it?

He'd secured her file easily enough from the hospital though he hadn't looked at it. Some part of him had told him it would do no harm to read the file and it would probably make the curiosity go away which, as Rosalie had stated, was for the best. But he hadn't.

Carlisle had reminded him that this was a girl's private file, that he was breaching her privacy. Edward hadn't been all that surprised when Carlisle had told him he knew about the file. The man had known him for a long time.

But Edward could no longer stem the flow of questions entering his mind after meeting her and he knew no other way to answer them. It would have all been so much easier if he could read her thoughts, but that small privilege had been denied to him for the one human he wished it for. So he opened the file only to rip it apart mere moments later.

Rape.

He pulled out his phone and dialed the number. It didn't take too long for Carlisle to answer, his tone happy and welcoming to Edward. "Can you find out if something is wrong with Isabella Swan?"

On the other end of the phone Carlisle paused for a moment. "What for?" He asked Edward cautiously. He didn't want to worry, he had faith in his son. But Edward seemed to be more focused on this girl and he had to wonder why.

"I read her file." There was a pause and Carlisle hear a growl on the other line and the groan of metal. "She was raped." The phone groaned in protest once more and Edward tried to calm himself.

"I need you to find out if she has some sort of STD because as Rosalie so kindly pointed out, she smells wrong and I have to agree."

As did Carlisle.

He'd picked up traces of something earlier in the week and had momentarily brushed it aside with the sudden curiosity and worry over the young girl, but now he supposed he could look into her. At the very least make sure she didn't have some sort of terminal illness as Edward had asked.

The idea had been toying with his head since the day Edward and Jasper had gone to see the girl - Isabella. Edward by far had shown the most curiosity for the child, though the reaction to her blood had baffled Jasper too, and he'd gone to great lengths to follow up on it.

It was possible that Isabella Swan was Edward's mate.

It would certainly account for his unusual behaviour and the lack of impact of her scent. The way Jasper had described it made Carlisle recall the Volturi's mention of _La Tua Cantante_ , or at least, the instant wanting of her blood.

Carlisle himself had never felt the call of a singer's blood but he'd been assured by Emmett that it had been too hard to resist. Perhaps this was Jasper's singer, in which case it he would need to stay away from her until Edward had claimed her - if she was his mate that was.

"I will try my best." He told Edward. He was thanked before Edward hung up and Carlisle sighed the slightest sigh he could. It was funny, the human habits that helped relax him even after all these years.

 **[][][][]**

When Bella woke up the next morning she was still feeling sick, though the nausea had gone somewhat there was a pain in her stomach. Maybe the lie she'd told Charlie hadn't been a lie at all. She couldn't even remember how many days it would have been before she started her period again.

She'd woken up covered in sweat with a knot in her stomach for the last few nights. Maybe she'd been so tired that the nightmares had just stayed away last night. Or maybe the increased amount of pills she was taking was finally beginning to work. If that were the case then maybe it would be better off getting some more from Eric. Maybe she could wean herself off so that she didn't need the pills anymore.

The sun was out, something rare for November, but despite the cheerful rays, Bella couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong.

Nevertheless Bella made her way downstairs to the kitchen in order to make some food for herself. And she would have followed through with that plan if it hadn't been for the fact that Charlie was sitting at the table with his morning coffee and the paper in his hands.

Bella looked at the clock and read 10:24 am, but there was Charlie, so obviously not going to work. Why was he there? "Morning Bella. You feeling better?" Bella bit her lip and nodded quietly. Charlie caught himself giving her an answering nod and internally sighed. They had been doing that a lot lately; Bella was talking a little bit more as time went on, but it was still nowhere near to what she used to do.

Sure their conversations were awkward, but at least they had conversations.

Bella looked down as she realised that Charlie was frowning. _It's not fair to him Bella. Talk._ "Why are you not at work?"

She winced as she realised that it had come out as though she wanted him gone and quickly tried to correct her mistake. Charlie gave her a real smile as she began stuttering an apology. "It's fine." He told her. "I've decided to take the day off work."

"Is this because of last night?" Bella asked. Charlie's pause gave her the answer she was looking for and she shook her head. "I don't want you to miss work for me dad. I'm fine -"

"I was worried about you Bells." The nickname didn't go unnoticed by either one of them. Charlie hadn't called her Bells since she was about ten. To hear it again only made Bella feel worse than she had before. She knew he wanted the old Bella back - the functional Bella. "You're my daughter. I have the right to be worried about you _especially_ after what's happened."

She looked down at her feet feeling like a child again and Charlie gave one last audible sigh. He moved from his place at the table to where Bella was still standing, clutching at her sides as if it were the only thing keeping something inside her. Charlie may not have been comfortable around emotions, but he had been a cop long enough to understand body language - and hers was crying out in grief.

"I'm sorry - for shouting." She whispered a small 'it's fine' and he was left feeling even worse than he had before. "Can I hug you Bella?" Dr Winslow had encouraged physical contact if Bella allowed it. It was a step towards gaining her control back, she had said.

"Ok."

Charlie stepped forward and placed his hands in front of him so she could see them. He was reminded of the time his own father had taken him out and they'd found a wounded animal. The small deer had tried to scamper away and his father had moved slowly and carefully towards the animal, much like he was doing now.

"I'm sorry Bella." He told her. He felt her nod and moved back after a short time. "Come on. I'll make you some breakfast. What would you like?"

"Whatever you feel like having." Was her noncommitted answer. Bella weighed her options; she could tell Charlie that she was just going to sleep today but then she was sure he would be worried - maybe even offended. Maybe it was better she just let him help her. Maybe it helped him feel better.

"How about pancakes?" He asked. She nodded. It was pretty straightforward and Charlie had the recipe that Bella usually used. She had kept a book of recipes for him incase she wasn't there and he would be able to follow the instructions and have a semi-decent meal.

He got to work making the pancakes and Bella sat at the table, her hands engulfed by the jumper she was wearing. "Would...would you like to come and see Billy and Jake with me?" He asked carefully. He watched her reflection from the cooker and waited.

Bella bit her lip. She loved the two men, she did. And she was sure Charlie would make sure that they didn't ask her questions but she wasn't sure she wanted to go out. But Charlie did. "Could - could they come here instead?" She asked.

Charlie smiled in relief. He was sure that she was going to say no but maybe her saying yes…

"Sure kiddo. What time would you want them to come over?" He asked.

"After Jake gets back from school?" It was posed like a question because Bella wasn't even sure what day of the week it was. She tried counting back from the last appointment she'd gone to but even then she didn't remember what day it was supposed to be on.

Charlie smiled. "That would be nice Bells." He got up and took the cellphone from besides him. Bella could hear his animated voice as he invited Billy Black to their house and she swallowed the bile that seemed to have risen out of nowhere. This was going to be ok. She knew them, they were good people.

She could feel the saliva build and gather in her mouth as she walked back up the stairs. She swallowed it down but she could suddenly smell Charlie's coffee and it smelt horrible. Bella ran to the toilet a second before she emptied the contents of her near empty stomach. She retched again and threw up once more before sitting against the toilet and wiping the tears from her face.

She felt sick.

Her phone rang from her bedside table and Bella flushed the toilet and rinsed her mouth. She went to her room and reacher for the phone before flipping it open. "Hello?" She cursed. Her voice sounded shaky.

"Bella? Are you okay honey?"

"I'm fine mom." Her voice sounded steadier this time and she let out a small sigh of relief that there wasn't something for her mom to pick up on and start worrying about.

"Are you sure?" She asked. "Because you need to tell me if you aren't feeling okay, okay? Is your dad looking after you?"

"Yes he is mom. I'm fine, really." She shut her eyes at the wave of nausea that followed as she moved her head too quickly.

Renee paused on the other side of the phone but let it go. Maybe Bella was alright - Dr Bishop hadn't said there was anything wrong with her per say, just that there were some final tests she wanted to run, just to be 100% sure that she was ok. "Right, well Dr Bishop wants you to come back so that she can run one last set of tests."

Bella sighed wearily and confirmed that she would be ready to go. Renee confirmed that she would be picked up in an hour and Bella put down the phone, and once again made her way slowly down the stairs.

"Dad?" Charlie was by the stairs in seconds but was on the phone. He was frowning slightly but then nodded, affirming something. "What's wrong?"

"Apparently Billy has a Council Meeting so he won't be able to come." He sighed dejectedly. "Hasn't had one of those in months. Wonder what's going on over there." He shook his head and gave a small smile to Bella. "Jacob's still coming though."

"That's great. But mom is coming over to take me to the hospital." She stopped him before he could get worried again. "It's nothing serious. Dr Bishop just wanted a couple more blood samples to double check things are ok. Mom promised that it would be fine."

Charlie paused. Renee was not one to take bullshit that was for sure. Dr Bishop was a good woman but Charlie knew from personal experience that Alice couldn't lie to save her life so if Renee believed it was just a checkup then Bella was fine.

"Alright then. Why don't you get ready and let me know what you want for dinner." She smiled and gave her dad a small hug. Charlie was left brimming with happiness as she moved back up the stairs slowly. _She really was getting better_ , he thought.


	5. FIVE

**A.N: Special thanks to these people for reviewing, it means a lot.**

csp4 x4 - You seem to like it for which I'm glad. There's a bit more of David in here later on because I'm thinking of doing something with him and a couple of the other characters. We shall see. Enjoy.

 **Keepddreamalive \- Thank you for saying it's beautifully written. Sometimes I do wonder. I hope you enjoy this next chapter. **

* * *

FIVE

Dr Bishop read and re-read the tests the nurse David had given her again and couldn't understand what had happened. Not only had the blood test from before come back with the same amount of hCG but the new test had shown increased levels.

Not for the first time today, she ran her fingers through her hair in agitation. "Is everything ok?" She heard from behind her. Dr Bishop turned to see the new doctor standing behind her. She'd heard all about the marvellous Dr Cullen, he helped out when needed, was amazing under pressure and he was polite to everyone. He'd even - according to the rumour mill - adopted five teenagers. Add to that, he was attractive and the man seemed to be too perfect for Alice.

"Just some off results. I think something is faulty." He smiled and asked gently what the issue was. "A patient's blood work came back with unusual results. They had high amounts of hGC." She showed him the chart, making sure not to show him Bella's name. The poor girl had enough going on with her life without adding pregnancy rumours as well. And she didn't know this doctor well enough to comment on his confidentiality.

He looked at the readings. "That is high. Is it a male?" She shook her head. "Well that's good I suppose. As I'm sure you're aware, hGC in a man can be an indication of prostate cancer." Alice nodded at that.

"Yes, I know."

"Then if she's a woman then why would it be unusual? She's pregnant no? Possibly carrying twins from the looks of things and a few weeks along. Six to seven weeks?"

Alice looked at Dr Cullen. He seemed like an honest man though she couldn't tell. People were often not what they seemed and it was always the innocent looking ones that got her into the most trouble. So she decided not to tell him anything. "No, only a couple of weeks along. Like I said, the sample must be faulty."

She smiled at him and was about to turn away when he placed a hand on her shoulder. "Are you sure? You looked incredibly worried earlier."

She frowned. "My back was to you." She said slowly. "How did you see me?"

Dr Cullen pointed to the mirror that was in the corner of the room. "I saw you through that. I'm sorry to pry, I just thought it may be something more." Alice bit her lip and shook her head.

"Nothing you have to worry about Dr Cullen."

"Call me Carlisle. I always like to get to know the doctors and nurses I work with. It makes the environment so much more enjoyable." Alice nodded again and smiled.

"Alright. See you later." She waited for a moment only so that he could say goodbye and she wouldn't seem rude but practically sprinted away once she was out of sight of the lounge.

Carlisle heard her footsteps thud away quickly and frowned as he saw the name of the patient easily through the translucent paper. _Isabella M. Swan_.

It was possible she was pregnant, she was a teenager and Carlisle was aware that teens had sex and it was possible that Isabella had fallen pregnant, but the hGC levels wouldn't have been so high.

He recalled the number, _197,000 mIU/ML._ As he'd said, it was the equivalent to a woman seven weeks pregnant but Emmett had smelt her only a few days ago and he had not said anything about scenting pregnancy. So how was that possible?

Maybe Emmett had made a mistake or ignored it for her more potent smell. Jasper had not picked up anything the night he'd gone with Edward to scope out the - then potential - threat. But then surely Edward would have picked it up. He'd seen the girl only two days ago.

What was happening to Isabella Swan? He was sure that she was ok when he'd sented the girl himself but then what was it? It seemed that Isabella was proving to be more of an enigma than he'd originally hoped, though it wasn't altogether a bad thing. For the sake of medical curiosity, Carlisle wanted to meet the young woman himself. Perhaps he could talk to Edward about what was going on. If the girl really was his mate as Carlisle suspected then he would need to involve Edward.

He waited until his shift was over, making sure to keep an eye on Dr Bishop. She was also someone to be wary of. In order to keep the peace at a small hospital, Carlisle had often had to...dazzle the staff. It was more to ensure that their family could stay a bit longer than perhaps cautioned because people didn't ask as many questions when they liked him.

But Dr Bishop had an unusual level of strong will because he'd smelled her caution of him. He'd also seen how she would avoid him if she could help it. The very fact that he hadn't met her before today when he'd been there for five days only seemed to strengthen his theory.

It didn't take long to reach his home. Carlisle pulled the car up next to Rosalie's own pride and joy and made his way into the house. He was greeted by a nervous Alice and a less than happy Jasper. "Carlisle," Alice said softly.

He understood that she wanted to talk to him in private however the fact that whatever she wanted to talk about was upsetting Jasper too was what worried him. The idea that perhaps they should never have come back to Forks was growing in his head, but could they just leave now? Maybe they should. It seemed like trouble was growing with every day they stayed.

"No." Alice said sharply, a far cry from her usual self. "I don't know why but I know if we don't stay, Isabella will die. And I really do think that she's Edward's mate." Carlisle sighed and nodded his head wearily.

"I'll come speak to you both later. I need to speak with Edward right now." Alice nodded and he made a decision to meet them at their small cabin. Alice would see it and know where to meet him.

"Oh and Carlisle -" he turned back to her. "You need to let Edward leave after you tell him whatever you're going to tell him."

He walked into the house and gave Esme a loving embrace. "How was work?" She asked him. He responded with a simple 'fine' before telling her he needed to speak with Edward. She nodded and pointed him to the piano, where Edward was in fact waiting for him.

"Son." He opened up his mind and the days events for Edward to see and Carlisle watched as he processed it all. There were very few times where Carlisle couldn't understand what was going through Edward's head.

One such instance had been just after Edward had left their small coven and fled to take on the human diet. He'd come back months later with a look of cold truth and Carlisle hadn't had the heart to ask him what he had experienced during his time away. It was true that he could make an educated guess, but Edward was far more guarded than Carlisle was used to having him at the time. He would later see the same look in Jasper's eyes as he told their family reluctantly about his time with Maria.

Now, Carlisle wasn't sure but he believed Edward looked almost disappointed, he certainly looked shocked.

"Are you sure?" He asked. "Carlisle are you sure?"

Carlisle shook his head. "It may just be an error, but we can't know for sure unless we see her ourselves." Edward sat down on the piano bench clutching the paper Carlisle had handed him.

"It doesn't make any sense." He muttered. "I was only there a few days ago. She didn't smell like she was with child - and certainly not the number of weeks you're suggesting to me."

There was nothing Carlisle could do other than tell him what he'd told him before and then pat him and place a comforting hand on his shoulder. It took Edward less than a second to react and he was up and out of the house faster than he'd run before.

Carlisle was compelled to follow him, not 100% sure where it was he was running to but he could guess. But then Alice's suggestion came to mind and he let out a shaky breath. He would let him go. "Is everything alright?" Esme asked.

"No it isn't."

 **[][][][]**

Renee was not happy. As much as she trusted Charlie - well at the moment, Renee wasn't all that sure she did - the man was stubborn and pig headed when it came to something he thought he could fix. She remembered a few weeks before she had asked him out, they had been at school and Charlie had set off the fire alarm accidentally because he thought he knew how to weld something that wasn't supposed to be welded.

His mistake had caused the teachers to panic and kids to rejoice because they'd been let out of classes early. He had become a bit of a hero in the moment and Renee wasn't embarrassed to admit it had opened her eyes to the personality that was Charlie Swan - although back then it had been cool. Now it was just problematice.

"Don't you think you should trust Charlie?" Phil asked her as he parked up the car. "He has been with Bella for the last couple of days."

Renee turned to him and raised a brow. Phil smiled and went into kiss her but she placed a hand over his mouth stopping him. "We had a deal remember." She smiled. "Not supposed to distract me when I have an all encompassing thought."

" _You_ weren't supposed to use the eyebrow."

She scrunched her nose up and pouted. "Touche. But yes I'm sure. Charlie isn't a doctor. I want to get an opinion from a _doctor_."

Phil nodded and took ahold of her hand. "Alright babe. We'll find Dr Bishop."

They walked into the hospital and went to the front desk. A young man was there typing away at the computer though Renee wasn't so sure it was work he was doing. She'd had receptionist jobs herself and didn't blame the kid for finding some way to entertain himself.

"Hi," he looked up. "We're looking to speak with Dr Bishop."

"She's with a patient right now. If you could just wait a moment." He gestured to the seats behind them and Renee gave him a smile in thanks. They waited for a few moments before a small girl with extraordinarily curly hair ran to behind the desk. The young boy picked her up and placed her on the desk and began to play with her. Renee smiled at the sight. and then wondered how old the boy was and if the little girl was his.

"Emmy!" Someone shouted. The little girl - Emmy - giggled. "I told you to leave Dave alone when he's at work."

"But he plays with me, No one else plays with me." Renee was shocked at the clarity of her language, she had guessed that the girl was three years old but she didn't know now.

"It's cool Ivy, you know it is." Dave said. He smiled and kissed her on the cheek. He was still at work and wanted to remain professional otherwise he'd have full on kissed her. "How is Rory?"

"Fine. Just forgot to take his Asthma pump to school and then decided to play basketball. It could have been worse."

Dave rolled his eyes and sighed. "Only your family can be so...about a asthma attack."

"We are, what we are, and it doesn't mean anything about us." Ivy smiled at how baffled Dave was and began bopping her head and dancing like she was listening to music.

"That course again?" He asked.

"Yep. And mark my words, you David Carter will end up doing it."

"See." Emmy shouted. "He only plays with me when you aren't around because _you_ won't play with me."

Ivy and Dave - and pretty much the entire waiting section - began laughing at the indignation the small girl was giving off. "Yeah I told you that doesn't work on me Emmy."

"But it works on Dave." Ivy laughed again but Dave huffed this time. "Oh don't take it the wrong way Dave. It's fun!"

Renee watched the scene between the three of them and smiled. They seemed so happy, and it only increased when another boy - looking to be eleven or twelve - walked up to them with Dr Bishop by his side.

Renee jumped up and walked a bit closer so she could ask Dr Bishop her question. She waited while Dr Bishop explained what Ivy would need to do and how the boy could prevent this from happening again.

"I just forgot." He said sadly.

"I know," Ivy said, "And we're not blaming you at all. Just want to make sure you understand how to prevent it from happening again ok kiddo?" He nodded and she smiled. She turned to Dave and gave him a wave and then lifted Emmy off the floor, holding onto her hand as they left.

Renee walked in front of Dr Bishop and smiled, "Dr Bishop."

"Renee." She said smiling. "How are you?"

"Good. That family," she pointed to the three that had left. "They're really attractive kids."

"Yeah they are." Renee's smile faltered a little.

"I hope they're careful." Dr Bishop only nodded.

 **[][][][]**

There were an odd mix of emotions swirling through Edward. Perhaps swirling wasn't the right word. It was more like a storm of emotions that confused him.

Carlisle had said her blood work suggested that she was pregnant by weeks though he hadn't smelt it - _how had he not scented it?_

He sped through the forest not caring that he was running through trees and rocks as he went along. He stopped in the meadow he'd found not long after meeting _her_ the first time. He breathed in the smell of wet grass, mold, algae and the small buds that were just starting to bloom.

He counted all the different smells and then began to count the separate dust particles floating in the air. He got to one million and seven before he felt he was calm enough to dissect the information.

Isabella Swan may or may not be pregnant though it was far more probably that she wasn't considering he had scented her when he was with her three days ago. Perhaps she had something else, something wrong with her blood which is why it was so easy to ignore her scent.

 _But Jasper -_ yes, Jasper. Jasper had lurched towards her scent when they'd first seen her so it wasn't that. Maybe it was just that Edward himself wasn't affected by her smell. But then why? Why wasn't he?

She was a human girl. Why did she have so much power over him? His logical mind said to ignore her; she could only bring trouble. She wasn't worth all the interest he was giving her and he had much better things to do with his time - except -

He couldn't do that. He couldn't let her go. Why couldn't he?

There was, he supposed, a simple way to get the clarification he needed - with everything that was supposed to be going on.

He could go to see her.

It took him less than a second to make up his mind, in fact, when he looked back Edward was sure that he was going to laugh at himself and how weak willed he had been. It wasn't normal for him - but then again when it came to Bella Swan, nothing was ever normal.

He was at her house before he even realised he'd thought the answer and he was knocking on the door mere seconds later. When Charlie opened the door, Edward could see the shock that was on his face. He schooled his face into a pleasant smile.

"Good afternoon chief." He listened for the voices in the house but he could only hear Charlie's thoughts, as was becoming the norm. In some ways, the calm of it all was peaceful, though Edward found that it was actually also unnerving; he'd always had to block out thoughts, tune them out so to speak, and so when he didn't have to, it was almost like the silence was deafening.

"Edward." He could hear the confusion in regards to what he was was doing at the house. Edward gave him a small smile and told him he was here to see Bella actually.

 _Why?_ Was the biggest question in Charlie's mind.

Why indeed.

Charlie eventually let him up after asking Bella if it was ok. Edward made his way to her room and was instantly hit with her scent. It was sweet, she smelt like freesias and honeysuckle which made him smile; it seemed to fit the personality he'd seen of her.

But just like the other times, there was something else in the scent. It was mixed, not yet developed and Edward couldn't put his finger on it. Still he pushed away the troubling thoughts. He was here to see what had him so attached to her.

She smiled at him and politely let him into her room. She looked pale, but she didn't smell sick. From downstairs, Charlie called up: "Would you like something to drink Edward? A soda? Coffee? Juice?"

He politely declined but noticed at 'coffee', Edward saw Bella's nose scrunch up and he smiled. "Don't like coffee?"

"The smell makes me feel sick." She said.

"Me too." He told her. She smiled, and so did he. He heard her heart speed up a bit but then a second later, he heard a _thu-thum-thump._ Almost like - he ignored the thought. Human's hearts did strange things when they were around Vampires and Charlie was downstairs as well.

 **[][][][]**

Charlie picked up the phone and almost reluctantly called Renne. For the last two days, Bella hadn't been feeling well and he wasn't happy about leaving her alone. She'd fussed over him not going into work the day before and she had painstakingly tried to act like she was fine, but every time she ate something, she would throw it up afterwards.

The phone rang once, twice, three times and there was no answer. Charlie began thinking over what Edward had told him a couple of days ago. The kid seemed to know a bit about colds and viruses - enough that when he told Charlie that all it was was a stomach bug, he took his word for it.

Edward had also given him Carlisle's personal phone number even though Charlie was adamant that he would only bother the good doctor if it was absolutely necessary. After all, he'd had his fair share of stomach bugs in his thirty-eight years and he was still alive to tell the tales.

Didn't mean he was comfortable leaving Bella alone though.

Seven, eight, nine - " _hello?"_ Renee's light lilt sounded over the phone.

"Renee, it's me, Charlie."

" _I know it is Charlie. There's such thing as caller ID."_ Charlie's mouth twitched unconsciously. Renee was starting to grate on his nerves far more than she had before. She just seemed so arrogant and ignorant about things at the same time that it frustrated the living shit out of him.

He grit his teeth before answering. "Great. Can you watch Bella for me today?"

" _What's wrong with her?"_ She asked, her tone suddenly changing and Charlie couldn't help but smile at knowing something definitive about Bella that Renee didn't. Petty maybe but it made him the tiniest bit happy.

"She has the flu. She says it's nothing but I just want someone to be with her and I have work." He didn't even have to really finish his sentence before she was saying yes. He smiled and told him that he was going to leave the key under the mat.

He made his way upstairs and knocked on the door. Bella didn't answer so he went straight in. She was lying under the covers with her eyes closed so he thought she was asleep. He went to stroker her hair away from her face and found that her face was hot. He sighed and gave her a small kiss on the forehead.

"Sleep well Bells." He whispered.

 **[][][][]**

She was in that blissful place between awake and asleep. The limbo left her feeling weightless and dreary but it a good way. It felt nice to be so tired because then she would fall asleep so easily.

She thought she was falling asleep because she was having a dream. A fuzzy dream that she wasn't sure was happening. There was red and black, maybe something else. The world was blurry and she was feeling a bit sick because of it. Like she was on a roundabout.

Her stomach was in knots. She felt hot.

And then she was awake and the covers around her were suffocating her, and the feeling in her stomach was weird, and she felt sick.

Vaguely she heard her name being called but she needed to throw up. She needed to get to the toilet. She ran, ignoring the things she bumped into.

She got to the toilet with a second to spare and felt her stomach roil one last time before she threw up once and then again. She was heaving but nothing was coming up. She still felt sick but at least she knew she wasn't going to throw up.

"Bella?" She heard. She opened her mouth to respond but all she could give was a groan as the head rush made her feel sick again. She felt a hand on her head and in her hair. "What's wrong baby?"

"Coffee...feel sick." She mumbled. Renee placed a hand once again on her forehead in order to feel her temperature but she was normal, which was odd because she was mumbling to herself.

"Alright baby, come on, stand up." She lifted Bella gently and brought her to her front so she could hug her. Bella's arms wrapped around her waist and as she did so, she pressed into Renee who frowned but then shrugged. "Let's get you back to bed."

She helped her back to her room and lay her down. "I'm hungry mom," Bella said. Renee bit her lip not sure if she should giver her food or not. If she had a stomach bug or the flu like Charlie suggested she did then it wouldn't be a good idea but she did need to eat. She sighed; Bella hadn't really gotten sick when she was little and then by the time she did, she was old enough to know what to do.

It brought on a bought of guilt that Renee didn't know how to look after her daughter. She wasn't around enough to even know what needed to be done. She stroked her daughter's hair and gave a small smile. "I'll give you some toast ok Bells?"

There was a low moan of approval so Renee helped Bella get into the bed. Renee pushed away the thin sheet that was covering her incase she was too hot. If Bella wanted it she could wrap it around her again.

It was then that she noticed the small bump showing up through Bella's thin shirt. She frowned and moved the shirt away to get a closer look but Bella shivered and curled up. She mumbled a small sorry before she stood up again but now she was a bit worried.

That bump looked weird, it was almost like Bella was bloated but she hadn't eaten anything Renee was sure. She bit her lip and made her way downstairs. She was worried now, like seriously worried.

Phil's mom had developed pancreatic cancer and her stomach had started to bloat during the early stages.

Renee looked around trying to figure out what to do. Surely if she'd had that then the doctors would have picked up the early stages of it when they'd done all those tests right? But then what if they hadn't? Dr Bishop had said they wanted to do another check up of her hadn't she? How many days ago was that, three? Would the results be in yet? Why hadn't they called her to tell her yet?

No. It was better to be safe than sorry and Renee was so ready to be safe around Bella now that it wasn't even funny. Too much had happened to not be.

She marched up the stairs and gently took Bella out of bed, telling her she was worried that it may be something worse than the flu. Bella, with a pale shaky body, nodded and told her she would go with her. Renee sighed at how easily she'd agreed with her; Bella did not like to be looked after.

But then she reminded her of why she'd been so good at taking care of herself because as they were walking out of the door, Bella reminded her that she'd left the coffee pot on the stove and Renee jumped to take it off quickly before something bad happened.

With her driving it took less than ten minutes to get Bella to the hospital and she was seen in less than twenty.

The doctor on hand was Dr Cullen but Renee didn't so much as question it. She let him take her in for tests after she'd told him what she thought was wrong and maybe she even lied, saying it had been Charlie's mother who'd died of the cancer because if it helped them to identify something quicker because they thought it may be genetic then sure, she would lie.

She waited around for hours, staying with Bella as much as she could, trying to prepare herself for the worst. But when Dr Cullen came, she was met with a smile. "It's ok Mrs Dwyer. She's just a bit bloated." He told her. Renee breathed a sigh of relief and placed a hand on her racing heart. Her baby was ok. She wasn't dying.

"Thank god." Dr Cullen smiled, though it seemed a little off to her. "I was just over-reacting I guess."

"Sometimes it's better to be overly cautious than not."

"Where's Bella?"

"She'll be out in a moment." Renee waited anxiously. When Bella came out she was looking slightly better than she had; she wasn't as pale and she wasn't shaking from what Renee could see. She rushed to hug Bella and patted the small bloated belly, smiling at her.

"Gave us a scare huh?"

Bella gave a small weak smile and nodded. "I told you it wasn't anything serious." She said. Still Renee patted it again, this time trying to feel it a bit better. She trusted what Dr Cullen had said, why would she not, but something about this situation felt weird to her.

"Come on, let's go home."

As she turned to go Carlisle pulled out his phone and called his family. "We need to talk and we need to do it now." He told them.

 **[][][][]**

They made it home safely and Renee left Bella to do what she wanted to do. She'd made her a slice of toast, just in case she still wasn't keeping food down and went about waiting for Charlie to get back home.

When the door knocked and she opened it, it wasn't Charlie who was at the door however, it was Dr Cullen, and two other people she'd never seen before.

"Dr Cullen?"

"Mrs Dwyer. May we come in?" He asked.

"Why?"

"It's about Bella." Renee frowned and let them inside. There was a nervous pit growing in her stomach at the doctor's three words. What else? What now?

They situated themselves around the living room and then seemed to turn to her at the same time. It was slightly unnerving, the practiced look they had. "This is my son Edward and my wife Esme." Dr Cullen said.

"Nice to meet you." She relied to the comment. "What's wrong with Bella?"

Dr Cullen seemed to take a deep breath to ready himself and Renee got all the more worried. "To explain, I need to ask you a question." Renee motioned for him to proceed and so he did. It may be easier to rip the band aid off as it were. "How much do you believe in the supernatural?"

* * *

 **AN: Guys, I'm so so sorry for breaking my word. I said I would put it up the Tuesday after the last update and I didn't. I don't know how this has impacted you guys but I'm sure at the very least, you're all frustrated at not getting the chapter when I said I would. My sister was born and my mum went to Brazil and there were birthdays and I started a course and there was a lot but I am sorry. I'm going to put doing 1000 words a day in place in order to have it completed by the set day that I say it will be completed.**

 **I have a question: Do you guys think it's a bit choppy? Cause I know I don't do transitions as well as other writers but sometimes I think what's the point if it's just changing to another time or person. Anyway, tell me what you think.**


	6. AN: Need help

Hey Guys, I'm really sorry that this chapter has taken so long and I'm also sorry that i got your hopes up with this message but I need help:

This chapter is kicking my arse and I have no idea how to get through this. If I could have help from someone: Like they look over it and point me in the direction it should go I would greatly appreciate it. Of course you would get recognition and a special shout out. I don't think I'll need help more than a couple of times but if you wanna be a beta that's also fine with me.

I just don't know how to get this to work and I don't want to leave you all hanging. So as soon as chapter 6 is done then I'll take down this note and replace it with the chapter.

But yeah. If anyone wants to be amazing and help me out, PM me.

Thanks.


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